Qld: It never rains and then it pours

A submerged vehicle on a flooded main road at Robina. An estimated 600mm of rain was dumped on the Gold Coast. This was the equ

ON the Gold Coast the drought is over, for now.

Water is on tap, but tight water restrictions remain, with more to come.

All this week, repairs to damage inflicted on communities by the weather's awesome and ferocious attack, are still being carried out as insurance assessors and tradesemen work long hours to catch up with claims.

Last week, especially during that awful Wednesday night and well after dawn on Thursday some suburbs recorded more than 600mm.

The deluge was the heaviest in memory with so much rain in so few hours.

The great 1974 flood which inundated canal homes with literally feet of water and threatened seaside homes when the giant king tides struck, built up over some days. Last week it took just hours for hundreds of homes to be flooded and shallow creeks, lakes and rivers to converge in a mighty sheet of water. Tragically, a young Maudsland couple were drowned during the flooding on the northern Gold Coast after they were caught up in swirling water as they endeavoured to drive their vehicle across one of several low culverts that dot the Guanaba area.

The city council had teams of experienced rescue staff assisting the SES as they coped with residents confronting emergency situations.

Council's water sustainable committee chairperson Cr Daphne McDonald said coastal homes had been badly hit by flood water and pumps worked furiously to cope with basement carparks in flood.

"I've never experienced so much rain," she said.

"As for the previously falling Hinze Dam, by last weekend it had reached 80 per cent capacity and rising," she said.

"With continuing run-off from the catchment, the dam could even come close to its 161,000 megalitre capacity."

Cr McDonald said the Gold Coast water supply was now linked to south-east Queensland and would follow the lead of 13 local authorities in more restrictions.

"Irrespective of how full the Hinze Dam is, we will follow a ban on all garden sprinklers which will be enforced soon, unless the Wivenhoe Dam receives significant replenishment," she said.